DOCTOR WHO - S11, E7 - "KERBLAM!"...

A mysterious message arrives in a package addressed to the Doctor, leading her, Graham, Yaz and Ryan to investigate the warehouse moon orbiting Kandoka, and the home of the galaxy's largest retailer: Kerblam!

I'll give the show credit, at least it didn't go with the usual suspects for the main villain.

/s/

Gloriosus
the G-man Himself

Let me strive every moment of my life to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, so that all may profit by it.
Let me think of the right and lend my assistance to all who may need it, with no regard for anything but justice.
Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage.
Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens, and my associates in everything I say and do.
Let me do right to all, and wrong no man. -- Doc Savage

Few people want to be moderated, most people see the need for everyone else to be moderated. -- Orpheus

They're definitely having some fun with misdirects on who the villains are with this batch of writers. I'm *really* enjoying the smaller scale, still. In previous seasons, the big reveal on this would have been that all of the robots were secretly Cybermen or something (because everything always came back to Cybermen or Daleks).

But what did I miss? Why were the other kidnapped/murdered people (other than Kira) killed?

- Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me. (Matthew 25:40)

- Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart. (Proverbs 3:3)

They're definitely having some fun with misdirects on who the villains are with this batch of writers. I'm *really* enjoying the smaller scale, still. In previous seasons, the big reveal on this would have been that all of the robots were secretly Cybermen or something (because everything always came back to Cybermen or Daleks).

With innocuous plastic items turning out deadly, it should've been the Autons.

Quote

But what did I miss? Why were the other kidnapped/murdered people (other than Kira) killed?

For testing the explosives on, IIRC.

"You don't use science to show that you're right, you use science to become right." -- xkcd

"The first man to raise a fist is the man who's run out of ideas." -- "H. G. Wells," Time After Time

There were several nice red herrings in this one-- the biggest one being the main plot. What started out as an apparent satire of Amazon turned into a subversive indictment of the Millennial Generation. "My generation, we change things, we make things happen." Solving problems by making things worse. And the sneaky bureaucrats and insidious artificial intelligence were actually trying to help-- in fact, it was actually the AI who sent the cry for help (and this also answered my initial question of why such an efficient company would just be delivering a fez that was ordered two Doctors ago-- it obviously duplicated a previous order as a medium for the message).

That said, the highlight of the episode may have been the middle-aged HR lady ripping the head off the robot.

As has been typical, the banter and chemistry between this group of Companions was strong. Initially I thought it would be amusing to have them along for the ride unintentionally, somewhat like Tegan, and spend the season trying to get home, but I like how eagerly they've adopted the roles of freelance troubleshooters. The standout moment of the episode was Yaz asking to take the pendant back to her deceased co-worker's family. There were actually a couple of particularly sad deaths in this one, the repentant family man and the insecure young lady-- until near the end, I was still expecting one or both to turn up alive.

I just hope this doesn't lean to a bubble wrap ban-- I love bubble wrap.

You know what I never needed to hear? The Doctor saying that the system isn't the problem, in an episode with a spacegoing version of Amazon, which is a system that's a big problem and a terrible workplace. For all of 1980s DW's faults, it had a story in which the Seventh Doctor and Ace rightfully brought down a government overnight. But our ineffectual, witless version of the Doctor here is apparently a useless noninterventionist like the worst of the Time Lords, and sees nothing worth fighting; it's the fault of the people. (It's gross how the first female Doctor comes across as such a stupid child. You needed a woman to play this? Perhaps Chibnall's agenda was to make sure she's written so badly that it kills the idea of a female Doctor permanently.)

Chibnall can take his show and shove it. In fact, he might be doing that, as rumours now claim he might leave late next year. Apparently, the poor baby is having a hard time being showrunner, as if he discovered that running DW's more difficult than surrounding oneself with people declaring that it's the Best Ever, and the proceeding Doctor (Capaldi) was the Worst Ever. In the 1980s, he thought DW was no good anymore; too bad that, as an adult, he apparently has no clue how to prove that he's so much better. (To be fair, he apparently never wanted to be in this position. He was "persuaded" over many drinks with Moffat, who wrongly assumed he'd know what to do. Oops.)

"The dew has fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning."
- Marvin the Paranoid Android, "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy"

Rules for Surviving an Autocracy
Rule#1: Believe the Autocrat.
Rule#2: Do not be taken in by small signs of normality.
Rule#3: Institutions will not save you.
Rule#4: Be outraged.
Rule#5: Don't make compromises.
Rule#6: Remember the future.
- Masha Gessenhttp://www.nybooks.c...s-for-survival/

Well, given how often we had shows blame the system, destroy it, and have nothing to replace it with other than to say "figure it out", this one's premise has the benefit of being non-standard.

It showed that even when the system works there would be those who'd seek to destroy it (Glass-Steagall Act anyone?), or claim something is broken as an excuse to break it (Obamacare; Social Security). Mind you there will be those who'd seek to corrupt the system for their own ends (which again breaks it).

Thus the program showed this corollary to the whole "system is broke" trope, which is "if the system ain't broke, someone will seek to break it," which, in itself, is a warning for our times.

/s/

Gloriosus
the G-man Himself

Let me strive every moment of my life to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, so that all may profit by it.
Let me think of the right and lend my assistance to all who may need it, with no regard for anything but justice.
Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage.
Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens, and my associates in everything I say and do.
Let me do right to all, and wrong no man. -- Doc Savage

Few people want to be moderated, most people see the need for everyone else to be moderated. -- Orpheus

The Doctor wasn't saying that the system didn't need reform; she was saying that its problems arose from the decisions of the humans who created and ran it, and that the way to fix it was by reforming it through better choices rather than going for the stupid, crude option of raw destruction. The Thirteenth Doctor is a tinkerer and a builder. Her philosophy is that if something has gone wrong, it's better to fix it than just destroy it.

"You don't use science to show that you're right, you use science to become right." -- xkcd

"The first man to raise a fist is the man who's run out of ideas." -- "H. G. Wells," Time After Time